This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Iran points finger at West but opens door to accord

When Iranian President Hassan Rouhani took to the UN General Assembly podium Thursday he wasted no time in lambasting the West for “founding and supporting” terrorist groups that they can no longer control.

“The strategic blunders of the West in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Caucasus have turned these parts of the world into a haven for terrorists and extremists,” he declared. “Military aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq and improper interference in the developments in Syria are clear examples of this erroneous strategic approach in the Middle East.”

But amid the gritty East-West old-speak was some diplomatic new-speak aimed at convincing Iran’s foes that it was time to settle the long-running dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program and move on to “multilateral collaboration aimed at promoting security, peace and development in our region and beyond.”

The message that clearly connected a nuclear deal to end ruinous international sanctions on Iran with aid in destroying the Islamic State’s beachhead in Syria and Iraq, has resonance on both sides.

Although the UN speech — traditionally aimed at a domestic as well as international audience — had a hard edge, Rouhani’s behind the scenes talks in New York took a softer tone on the relationship between Iran and the West.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

In the first high level contact between Iran and Britain since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Rouhani met with Prime Minister David Cameron — and tweeted a selfie of the event, calling it a “new outlook,” that was “constructive and pragmatic.”

Cameron told the UN that although Iran “needs to change” on support for (Hezbollah) terrorism, its nuclear program and poor human rights record, “Iran’s leaders could help” in defeating the threat from the Islamic State.

Human rights, usually at the forefront of the West’s dealings with Iran, remained in the background at the UN session.

Meanwhile, Canadian resident Saeed Malekpour is serving a life sentence in Tehran’s Evin Prison on charges widely decried as spurious. Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian and his wife Yeganeh Salehi are under “temporary detention without charge,” and British-Iranian Ghoncheh Ghavami has been in solitary confinement for two months for trying to attend a volleyball match. Thousands of other political prisoners have been jailed and some executed.

Rouhani, a former nuclear negotiator elected on a reform ticket, has spoken of improving human rights, but has met resistance from powerful hardliners.

There is skepticism in the West that he will be able to compromise on a stalled nuclear deal that requires Iran’s agreement to cut back uranium enrichment that could lead to production of nuclear weapons. The deadline for a deal is Nov. 24, and would bring an easing of sanctions that are biting deeply into the daily lives of Iranians.

“I think the political will is there, and both parties want a deal,” says Ariane Tabatabai, a nuclear security expert at Harvard University. “People have been pessimistic, and focused on enrichment. But I believe bridges can be crossed now.”

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

In his UN speech, Rouhani warned against “excessive demands” and said Iran was determined to continue its “peaceful nuclear program including enrichment within the framework of international law.”

The prospects for an understanding with Tehran on fighting the Islamic State are more feasible since the group tightened its grip on Iraq. Although Rouhani stressed that the Sunni extremists could be defeated only by a “regional solution with international help,” rather than a Western-led coalition, the interests of Shiite Iran and the West are in growing alignment.

The notion that Iran is seeking control of the region is “delusional Islamophobia,” Rouhani said.

Inside and outside Iran there is resistance to a new rapprochement on a nuclear accord and an anti-Islamic State alliance that could give Iran the upper hand in Iraq. CNN host Fareed Zakaria, who held a public dialogue with Rouhani in New York, said Western fears of a Middle Eastern realignment, with the U.S. deserting its longtime Sunni allies in the Persian Gulf, are unfounded.

“The two countries are still fundamentally at odds,” he said in Time magazine.

Rouhani, however, needs a victory at the nuclear negotiating table to bring home to his sanctions-scorched voters. If his strategy of cautious engagement fails, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds most of the power in the country, and his hard line supporters, will win.

“Khamenei has positioned himself so he’ll be in a good place either way,” says Tabatabai. “It’s the moderates and reformists who’ll lose.”

More from The Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com